Dick Blume/The Post StandardDeb Dill, of the Manlius Fire Department, puts makeup on Mackenzie Kelly, a senior at Fayetteville-Manlius High School. She was one of 60 pre-selected juniors and seniors who Thursday played the role of young people killed in DWI-related accidents.
Fayetteville-Manlius High school officials went class by class pulling out 60 juniors and seniors.
They took the teenagers to conference rooms where white makeup was applied to their faces. They now represented students killed in DWI-related accidents. The students returned to their classes, but for the rest of the day they couldn’t speak or text because they were “dead.”
“The idea is if the student wasn’t around, they wouldn’t be able to carry on conversations,” said Doug Lawrence, F-M assistant principal.
The message: Don’t drink and drive, because this is what can happen to you and your friends.
The high school is hosting a two-day event Thursday and Friday that’s part of the national “Every 15 Minutes” program, which offers real-life experiences without the true risks. Every 15 minutes refers to the statistic that someone dies from an alcohol-related accident every 15 minutes.
“I think when you get involved in something like this and play an active role, you truly get a lot out of it,” said Sam Centore, one of 60 F-M juniors and seniors preselected to portray one of the “living dead.”
“You get emotionally connected and it’s not just statistics,” Centore said. “And because everyone sees it, it will have a real community impact and everyone will share their reactions.”
The day culminated with a simulated two-vehicle traffic accident on school grounds using two vehicles the Manlius Fire Department retrieved from the junkyard. Fire department officials contacted the school about a year ago about the program, and they’ve been working on details for the past year.
Juniors and seniors watched the scene as police, fire and ambulance workers responded, extricating victims using hydraulic tools and treating the injured. A coroner also arrived to process the fatalities and police booked the drunk driver.
Throughout the day, the crash “victims” were filmed at the police station, court, hospital and morgue. Later, they were among the 60 students taking part in an overnight retreat at the Craftsman Inn, where they learned about making good choices and wrote letters to their “survivors” urging them to avoid drunk driving.
Students can watch the whole day’s events during a 20-minute video to be presented at an assembly Friday morning. Students and their parents will talk about their feelings as they participated in Thursday’s mock crash at the assembly, and an F-M teacher will share her personal experience with a drunk driver who injured someone in her family.
‘The idea is for students to experience firsthand the sensations of being involved in a tragic, alcohol-related accident. “It’s a bit of shock treatment for these kids, so they see what could really happen to them and their friends,” said Bob Bennett, Manlius’ deputy fire chief.
Centore, a senior, said it was “kind of spooky” to play a dead kid but it also drove the message home. “It kind of creeps you out to think about it, but that’s why it has such an impact,” he said. “Kids have this idea nothing will ever happen to them, that it only happens to someone else.”
Junior Erin Sauer, 16, said “we hear about people this happens to you, but it doesn’t really affect us. This really shows you exactly what it’s like.”
Rose Avellino, 16, also a junior, said she found the message powerful. “It’s something that will last with me forever,” she said.
Elizabeth Doran can be reached at edoran@syracuse.com or 470-3012.